Francy's New Morning

Another special group of volunteers came to our house from Ohio this past week. Every person who comes leaves a treasure of love in our hearts as bit by bit our home is being made a home again. We love meeting people we may have never met if not for the storm’s damage. We were also given these awesome necklaces, handmade from deer antlers. One for each of us…with a meaningful scripture verse attached. My verse was Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This same week, Jordan, our daughter, received a letter from one volunteer explaining the important structural work he had to do in her room. While searching for the cause of an electrical problem upstairs, they discovered sagging cripple studs; this would mean nothing to me if he didn’t explain the problem—it couldn’t support the second floor. Jordan’s room had been a danger zone. She wouldn’t be able to see what was there once the wallboard covered

Don’t look at the mountain! Casual dining for Easter 2014 This Easter we must have changed our plans five times. Typical me…I’m decision making challenged. Our dilemma: we wanted to have my parents over and go to our church for Easter, but how could we come back to a house that’s still under construction? Our dining room table has been buried under junk for the last few weeks while the bedrooms are getting finished by Samaritan’s Purse volunteers; our living  room is filled with a mountain of bedroom furniture, boxes of stuff, and emptied closets. No way! We could never have the room ready. There was no place to put anything. So I called my parents and changed the plans. As Gene and I drove to the store, we juggled ideas about getting to church and their house and baseball games the next day with one car. Then the car rattled…louder and scratchier with every block we passed. We had to walk home and plans changed again…Easter at our house in the mess.